Mastering Magic: Sorcerous Blast

Good morning gamers,

So we find ourselves today beginning a new twelve-part series on magic. I know what you're thinking: 

"Tiberius, you just DID a series on magic. What's there left to talk about?!?!?!"

Lots. :-)

To be honest, I've covered magic quite a bit on this blog. My last series on magic was back in July-August 2019, where I looked at the four different kinds of magical models in the game (Combat mages, Auxiliary mages, Multi-Purpose Will mages, and Unlimited mages).

Prior to that (in April-May 2019), I covered four of my favorite magic heroes in five posts and why I liked what they brought to the army over more traditional, combat-oriented heroes (Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Gandalf the White again, Saruman, and Galadriel).

More recently, I and my fellow admins Centaur and Rythbryt did a review of our "Top 10" Good spell casters and "Top 10" Evil spell casters in our TMAT Talks podcasts (available on YouTube, going up on other places too). Our post on "Top 10" Support heroes (both Good and Evil) also featured spell-casters - though I did restrain myself from ranking Gandalf the White in that post.

Centaur, Rythbryt, and I teamed up with two of our mates (MinutemanKirk and RedJacket) for two TMAT Drafts with support-oriented heroes as well (Forces of Good and Forces of Evil). While spell-casters were only a part of the total set of models in the pool, they played no small part in my calculations for either side of the coin (no surprise there).

I've written a smattering of other articles in the last year (or so), including the best anti-mages, when channelling wastes Might points (and other things that weren't related to magic), and a review of the best Ringwraiths to take in an army. All of this is under the new MESBG rules - I also talked about magic under the previous rules sets (but I won't drudge all those up here).

After compiling this list, it occurs to me we have written about magic a lot (and me in particular). :)

So what have we not talked about with magic? Why, how to best use each spell, of course! In writing most of these posts (and some other posts on list building), we received comments from some of our readers about how to get better value/from certain casters (Gandalf especially) because they just never seemed to do enough killing to justify their existence in a list over a more combat-oriented hero. This got me thinking about different spells and how to "best use them" (or whether they're even worth using at all). 

So, this series was born, where we'll understand at the beginning of each post what a spell (or set of spells) does, who can use it, how you use the spell effectively, when you use it, and wrap up with a few case studies of people who should (and shouldn't) use it and how. As the series continues, when we've finally covered all of the spells available to a hero model, we'll do a recap of that hero and talk about how to balance what you've read about in the previous posts on the blog so you can integrate the various thoughts into a solid game plan. The end-goal is not only to make spell-casters more accessible to new players, but give experienced players an idea of how they could integrate some of the most powerful spell-casters in the game into existing armies they like to run.

Our first spell that we'll be covering is a spell that got a lot of critique under the new rules: Sorcerous Blast. While only available to a handful of models, Sorcerous Blast has the potential to really change your opponent's combat plans - and let's face it, it's a damage spell (so by definition, it's a cool spell - you think we would start with Enchanted Blades?!?!?!?!). Let's see what it does.

Sorcerous Blast: What Does It Do?

When I first got started in MESBG, I bought the Mines of Moria starter set. I got to use Gandalf in several scenarios and it turns out that Cave Trolls are a lot less scary when they aren't allowed to beat your heroes into a pulp. But what happens when there's a swarm of Goblins nearby? Immobilizing one of them is pretty pointless, but Sorcerous Blast is a LOAD of fun (and remains one of the best ways to bowl for Goblins)! 

Since that time, the spell has changed a lot - here are a few nuances about Sorcerous Blast (factoring in the Designer's Commentaries for the main rulebook):

• You pick an enemy model to target (no pushing your own guys forward to get them some extra movement);
• If you pass the casting roll, the target of the spell (not anyone who will be affected collaterally) gets to try to resist the spell;
• If the spell is not resisted, the target is flung a maximum of D6" directly away from the caster, but will stop as soon as it hits the first model in its path. Note that a model can be moved this way OUT of combat, as clarified in the Designer's Commentaries for the main rulebook.
• The target model, anyone who was engaged with the targeted model, the model that was bumped into by the target model, and anyone engaged with the model that was bumped into by the target model are all knocked Prone if they are Strength 5 or less. Note that friendly (and enemy) models that are engaged in the same fight as the target (or the model that gets bumped into) are also Knocked Prone - even if they are not physically "engaged" with the target/bumped-into models; (CORRECTION: the rules appear to indicate that so long as the model that is bumped into isn't S6+, then the target model, the bumped-into-model, and all of the models in either fight - regardless of their Strength - are knocked Prone - see p. 100 of the main rulebook for the specific rules of Sorcerous Blast. Personally, I think it ridiculous that a S6+ model could be knocked Prone because he was involved in a fight that got hit by Sorcerous Blast but he wasn't the target that got bumped into, so I wouldn't enforce it on my opponent).
• Cavalry models that are knocked Prone this way suffer the Knocked Flying result on the Thrown Rider chart (which means they're Prone and they suffer a Strength 3 hit BEFORE the effects of Sorcerous Blast are resolved).
• The target model suffers a Strength 5 (Strength 6 if channelled) hit, which may be modified by Might (CORRECTION: he also takes a S3 hit if he bumped into a S6+ model).
• Any other models that were affected suffer a Strength 3 (Strength 4 if channelled) hit, which may NOT be modified by Might per the Designer Commentaries.

Conveniently, all of the models with this spell can cast it from 12" away - and at the first reading of it, this appears to be a really powerful spell. Is it great though? Let's see who has it to answer that question. . . .

Who's Got Sorcerous Blast?

Many magical powers in MESBG are specialized (limited to 1-2 profiles), and Sorcerous Blast is certainly on the list of spells that's cast by only a handful of models. There are only two people (four profiles) that have Sorcerous Blast: Saruman, Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey, and Gandalf the White. These four profiles, however, show up in 8 army lists (currently available in only one Legendary Legion, which might be changing with the Quest of the Ringbearer supplement . . . whenever that is released). As a result, understanding how to use (and fight against) Sorcerous Blast is probably a good thing to know.

Gandalf the Grey casts this spell on a 5+, so given his other spells he has access to, I'd expect Gandalf the Grey to cast this spell less often than the other three profiles, favoring other spells that are easier to cast instead (we'll talk about this more later). However, if Gandalf is providing a auric benefit in one part of the map (protecting archers with his Blinding Light, for example), Sorcerous Blast is a nice way for Gandalf to contribute with some ranged damage of his own while holding important ground (and if he fails to cast it, he's still benefiting his team in some way).

More likely to cast Sorcerous Blast are the three White Wizards: Gandalf the White, Saruman the White, and Saruman. These wizards all cast this spell on a 4+ and Saruman (both guises) can reroll a die when making a casting attempt. This means that Gandalf the White has a 50% chance of casting the spell on his free die alone (and Saruman has a 75% chance of casting the spell on his free die with the reroll). Dealing more damage with these heroes (two of which are more expensive than Gandalf the Grey - Saruman the White is the same cost) is good for getting their points back.

How Do You Use Sorcerous Blast Most Effectively?

Okay, so let's assume that you've chosen to run Gandalf the Grey (as I've recommended for Thorin's Company and the Fellowship), Gandalf the White (recommended for Minas Tirith), or Saruman (recommended for Isengard) in your army. How do you get the greatest benefit from Sorcerous Blast? Here are a few principles:

• Spend enough Will to have a 70% chance of success (or better);
• Target a model that can't resist the spell; and
• Target a model so that it bumps into two models simultaneously OR an enemy model that is Engaged in a fight with several friendly models.

These three principles all attempt to solve one big problem: Sorcerous Blast is difficult to cast (especially when you compare it to the other spells available to these heroes) and doesn't fling models their full D6" if they run into anyone, so if you choose to use it, make sure it works. Let's dig into each principle.

1) The 70% Success Rule

70% might seem pretty arbitrary, but it means that in nearly three-out-of-four attempts, you will successfully cast the spell (which is pretty good odds for a dice game). 70% also gives you a C- in school, which I think is a passing grade in most places. No spell in MESBG is guaranteed to be cast (unless you're Thranduil with the Circlet of Kings) - everything has a chance of failure. As such, we need a standard for "how acceptably likely" something is to work.

Gandalf the Grey and a one-die cast of Sorcerous Blast

If you're Gandalf the Grey and you want to cast Sorcerous Blast on a 5+, throwing 1 die (your free Will point from your Staff of Power, let's say) will give you a 33% chance of success (shown by the 3 dice up above - 33% chance of getting a 1-2, 33% chance of getting a 3-4, and a 33% chance of getting a 5-6). If you're using your free Will point, you didn't "pay" anything except the opportunity cost of NOT getting another spell off (like your 3+ Immobilize or a 4+ Command/Strengthen Will). 

Gandalf the Grey and a two-dice cast of Sorcerous Blast

If you choose to throw two dice at the spell (shown by the 3x3 matrix above, with the X axis being the first die and the Y axis being the second die), you improve your probability of success to a 55% chance (5/9 have a high value of 5 or 6) - which is better but still means that roughly every-other-time you cast the spell, you will fail. While every-other-turn might see two warriors killed every other round, I think we can do better.

Gandalf the Grey and a three-dice cast of Sorcerous Blast

If you throw 3 dice at the spell (with the X/Y axes of each box being the first/second dice as shown above and each 3x3 box having a third die roll of a 1-2, 3-4, or 5-6), you have a 70% chance of success - and this is where my "magic rule" of 70% comes from. If Gandalf throws 3 dice at Sorcerous Blast, he should succeed in about three-out-of-four attempts. And if he only throws it four times, that means more often than not, he'll get it off (he will need to cast Strengthen Will on himself to do this - we'll cover that in a later post). 

I also think this is a good plan, because if you only get a 4+ (which you should get nearly 88% of the time on a 3-dice-cast), you can boost it with Might to make sure it works. Being able to boost it to a success in seven-of-eight trials is pretty good.

If you follow the rule of 70%, you'll want to budget the following resources for each caster:

• Gandalf the Grey: Staff of Power + 2 Will points from store = 70%
• Gandalf the White: Staff of Power + 1 Will point from store = 75%
• Saruman (either version): Staff of Power + reroll ability = 75%

So what does this mean? It means that Sorcerous Blast is a bigger drain on Gandalf the Grey's resources, but all three can get the spell off "easily" at least once per game. Saruman is the only one that can cast this spell reliably every turn on just his free resource, though Gandalf the White probably won't need his normal Will store for his other spells (besides keeping his Exhaustion spells alive), so both of the White Wizard characters should be able to cast this spell quite a bit with a high reliability.

2) Easy Targets

Okay, let's get this out of the way from the get-go: 

Your first target for Sorcerous Blast is Grima Wormtongue. 

Grima will make your life miserable - so deal with him quickly...

If your opponent brings Grima to a fight and deploys him in your force, you walk Gandalf/Saruman over to the cheeky blighter and you blow his head off with magical awesomeness (because it's the only thing you can do to kill the guy). Thankfully, Grima has no Will, he is not Resistant to Magic, he has no Might to call Heroic Resolve (which he also doesn't have), and he doesn't have a static Fortify Spirit rule for himself. He. Can't. Resist. Because he's D3, he'll be wounded on 3s.

So slay him. Moving on. . . .

Most warrior models can't resist spells, so target a warrior model!

When choosing a target for Sorcerous Blast, we'd all be tempted to hit a hero - higher Strength hit = more likely to wound. And if your opponent has a hero who doesn't have any Will and doesn't get any free dice to resist spells, this is a perfectly great idea (Easterling Dragon Knights and Khazad-Dum Shieldbearers beware!). But what happens if your opponent has Will (any amount, but especially if they have 2+ Will points)? You might throw 1-2 Will points from your store to cast the spell (potentially sacrificing a Might point as well) and you still aren't guaranteed that the spell will do anything because your opponent might resist the spell. So what do you do? You target the Warrior model next to the hero at "the right angle."

Targeting back-rank heroes - "easy" targets . . .

There are two basic kinds of heroes in MESGB: the ones that like to be in the front rank and the ones that like to be in the back rank. Targeting back-rank heroes is easy: target any warrior model in front of said hero that will pass through the hero you want to deal with BEFORE it touches bases with other models. When you look at heroes like Cirdan or a Shade, tackling them with magic directly is going to be kind of hard (Resistant to Magic on Cirdan, lots of Will on the Shade). BUT you can knock the hero to the ground (and do a cheeky S3 hit if they're infantry - and TWO S3 hits if they're Cavalry, thanks to the Thrown Rider table) if you just target a warrior model near them! If you have priority and your opponent is still crossing the field towards you, he runs into the dilemma of slowing down his advance to wait for the hero to stand up and follow along OR leaving them behind as he presses on. If you have some good archery on your team, both options will be bad.

Tackling front-line heroes is trickier, since you'll need to get a side-ways angle to throw a warrior model into the hero you want, but you can still do it if the angle is wide enough. To explain how to do it, let's look at the third recommendation. . . .

3) The Finesse of Geometry

In high school, I took geometry and in that class, I learned how to find the perpendicular bisector of a line using a straight edge and compass. In SBG terms, the "perpendicular bisector" is a line that crosses a space directly between two models. Humans can do this almost intuitively, but we had to compute it "precisely" for class. We don't need to be that precise in MESBG (generally speaking). 

How this works is that you do the following:

• Find the hero model you want to knock Prone;
• Identify a warrior model as your target who is adjacent to the hero you want to knock Prone;
• Find the gap space between the target model, the model that is behind the target model, and the target hero; and
• Line up your caster so that the line going between the caster and the target splits that gap space in half.

Geometry: getting you more collateral targets than you reasonably should...

What this will do is guarantee that the target model interacts with the model behind it and the target hero at the same time. While Sorcerous Blast makes you stop as soon as you hit a model, you'll interact with both models at exactly the same time because of the rules of geometry. This not only knocks down an additional model, but also messes up your opponent's lines a bit more.

Protecting Gandalf the White

Once you know where your caster needs to be, move your army to shield him (especially if the position would have required exposing the wizard). Saruman and Gandalf the Grey aren't great fighters (1 Attack each, albeit at a good Fight/Strength), but even Gandalf the White (who is better in combat with 2 Attacks) doesn't want to get locked into combat away from his supporters. So make sure there's some kind of bodyguard group dedicated to protecting your caster from harm.

Special note: if you have the chance to target a cavalry model, do it - the increased base size can sometimes mean that you can reach important models without having to make as wide an angle around your battle lines (plus the model is Knocked Flying - so it takes an extra S3 hit and doesn't get its mount anymore). 

When Do You Use It?

The example above assumed that the hero is embedded in a battle line - many big heroes like to have friendly models standing around them, so I don't think it's an unexpected situation to face. Because Sorcerous Blast allows you to move a model and knock the target model (and possibly some others) Prone, it's very tempting to throw this spell towards a clustered group of models. In general, I think this spell is best used against groups of models.

But what happens if the hero is detached from his army? What do you do then?

While a mounted model (like Shadowfax) will likely be able to get the angle you want, the final position you need to be in might be overly-exposed. As a result, if you can't get the angle you want, just don't cast it. All four of the profiles that have Sorcerous Blast have a Command spell that is cast one-pip-more-easily and an Immobilize spell that is cast two-pips-more-easily than Sorcerous Blast - both of which are excellent spells that can weaken your opponent's hero as he approaches. This can also be used to remove whatever Will they have so that on the next round, you can cast Sorcerous Blast on them directly (instead of targeting a warrior next to them).

When you don't see a good opportunity for Sorcerous Blast, I recommend setting up your movement to make casting a Sorcerous Blast easier on the following turn (it truly is a great spell to use).

Now that we've gone over the basics, let's look at some practical examples to illustrate these principles.

Use Case Study: Saruman

Saruman is a very powerful hero - and what more thematic fight could you imagine than seeing a host of Isengard attacking some Riders of Rohan! Here's an example fight (these are the 700-point lists I like - adjust for your own meta).

Isengard: 700 points	Rohan: 700 points
Saruman - 180	Theoden, King of Rohan on armored horse with shield and heavy armor - 100
Thrydan Wolfsbane on horse - 95	Eomer, Marshal of the Riddermark on horse with throwing spears and shield - 120
Mauhur - 60	Gamling, Captain of Rohan on horse with Royal Standard of Rohan - 115
Grima Wormtongue - 25	Theodred, Heir of Rohan on horse with shield and throwing spears - 100
3 Uruk-Hai Berserkers - 45	1 Rider of Rohan with banner - 39
10 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Uruk-Hai Bows - 90	1 Rider of Rohan with throwing spears - 16
5 Uruk-Hai Marauders with shields - 50	15 Riders of Rohan - 210
5 Uruk-Hai Warriors with shields - 40
7 Uruk-Hai Warriors with pikes - 60
1 Uruk-Hai Warrior with pike and banner - 35

The Isengard force has 35 models, while the Rohan army has only 21 models. The Rohan army has lots of flexibility (everyone except Theoden and Gamling can shoot - and a few models have throwing spears for fast-paced shooting). With the majority of the Isengard models being D5 (including Saruman), the Isengard force runs the risk of being torn apart by the Rohan force.

Four heroes to choose from . . . hmmm . . .

Except, that it has Saruman. Sure, the Riders of Rohan can race away from Grima at the start of the game if they want to, but the Riders are likely to want to be near each other in order to take advantage of their banners. With an 18" Command on Saruman (being able to call out a non-Marching cavalry hero 5" away from the pack - and being able to call out a Marching cavalry hero 7.5" away from the pack), you're likely to see cavalry armies tuck their heroes amidst the other warriors. This is perfect for your Sorcerous Blast!

The best kind of Sorcerous Blast: throwing a warrior in a multiple combat into another multiple combat . . .

But there's another nasty trick you can do: Sorcerous Blast can be cast against a model that's in combat and all the other models engaged in the combat are knocked Prone while the target sky-rockets towards another combat (knocking all of the models engaged in THAT fight Prone too). In this case, Saruman can target the Rider of Rohan in the same fight as Theodred and Blast him towards the fight that involves two other Riders of Rohan (one of which has a banner). The Rider can't resist, so when you successfully cast it (two-die cast of a 2 and 5), you can throw the Rider of Rohan into the banner's fight (if you get the range required), knock Theodred off his horse, knock the banner/other Rider off their horses, and knock some of your own guys on the ground (the price those two blokes will pay is worth the trade). 

The aftermath speaks for itself: 53 points of dead Rohan guys, no losses, and Theodred won't be killing anyone this turn - I'll take that all day long!

Theodred, the banner, and the two Riders of Rohan all take S3 hits from the Knocked Flying result on the Thrown Rider table (white dice in the picture) BEFORE suffering their S3 hits (S5 for the target Rider of Rohan, red dice in the picture) from Sorcerous Blast - absolutely lethal! This strategy is best employed when your opponent has swarmed lots of models around one of your models with the anticipation of calling a Heroic Combat and slingshotting their models into other fights - what a nasty surprise you have for them, eh? For those who are wondering, yes, I did actually roll four 1s for the Thrown Rider damage on the cavalry in question . . .

Use Case Study: Gandalf the White

Now let's change the situation a little bit: Gandalf the White is leading the forces of Minas Tirith against an army from Mordor (one I want to try soon):

Minas Tirith: 700 points	Mordor: 700 points
Gandalf the White on Shadowfax - 240	The Witch-King of Angmar on horse with the Crown of Morgul, Morgul Blade, 3M/15W/2F - 165
Denethor - 35	3 Ringwraiths on horse with 2M/9W/1F - 270
Faramir, Captain of Gondor with bow - 85	3 Morannon Orcs with shields - 24
4 Knights of Minas Tirith with shields - 56	11 Morannon Orcs with shields and spears - 99
5 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields - 40	1 Morannon Orc with shield, spear, and banner - 34
6 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears - 54	3 Mordor Uruk-Hai with Orc bows and two-handed maces - 30
1 Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, spear, and banner - 34	3 Mordor Uruk-Hai with Orc bows - 27
6 Rangers of Gondor - 48	3 Orc Trackers - 15
6 Rangers of Gondor with spears - 54	4 Black Numenoreans - 36
6 Osgiliath Veterans with shields - 54

Morannon Orcs are a nasty piece of work - but supported by Ringwraiths, Morannon Orcs are HORRIBLE to fight. Why? Because most power heroes only have 3 Will points - and 4 Ringwraiths can get off 4 Transfixes in one turn (so you'd better get a natural 6 to resist or you're toast). So how do we make carving up Morannon Orcs easier? Take out the Ringwraiths! Dealing Wounds to Ringwraiths is hard - and if they're mounted, catching them will be hard too. 

Dismounting Ringwraiths is pretty easy, despite they're high Will store...

If your objective is to dismount the Witch-King (or one of the other Ringwraiths), then using Sorcerous Blast against a nearby model is the way to go. However, in this circumstance, killing the Wraith might be better than knocking him down (this applies to Ringwraiths on Fell Beasts especially - I find that mount to be too expensive for my taste). The speed on Shadowfax (plus the innate defense you have through Shadowfax and Fortify Spirit) will keep Gandalf in the fight long enough to cast Banishment (also cast on a 4+) against them all without succumbing to damage. I wouldn't channel Banishment unless you wanted to target the Witch-King, though I would throw your free Will point + 1 Will from your store at any Banishment attempt (gives you an 75% probability of success). At the very least, you'll exhaust the Will stores of the Ringwraiths very quickly (even if they resist the spells you cast).

Bowling for Orcs!

Once the Ringwraith has been weakened with Banishment (which we'll cover later in this series), use Sorcerous Blast on the warriors to keep them on the ground, giving your Minas Tirith troops a slight boost to their ability to Wound. If you are concerned about being pressed early on, blast an Orc into any Ringwraiths that come close to your army to dismount them (doesn't work if your opponent is on a Fell Beast - but works great against horses). Then shower them with Banishment until they die.

"Use" Case Study: Gandalf the Grey

Now Gandalf the Grey is a fantastic model to include in a Shire or Survivors of Lake-town army because of the support that he provides (see my Shire List Building post on that), but I've used Gandalf primarily as part of the Fellowship or Thorin's Company. If you look at the posts that have received the most comments in the past year, you'll notice that the theme that binds them all together is this: I tend to recommend taking Gandalf (and a lot of other people) over Boromir. Fear not, Bozza-lovers, I'm not picking on him today. In fact, we'll address the big question that's been posed in nearly all of those posts:

How do you get your points worth out of Gandalf in an all-hero army?

Gandalf the Grey's biggest downside relative to his Whitened self is that he only has 1 Attack. Sure, he doesn't cast the majority of his spells as well and he isn't D6, but the biggest let-down is the single Attack. In combat, his Fight/Strength values are great, but with 1 Attack, you're in danger of "just flubbing it" when it comes to the Duel roll. Since Gandalf has to be the army leader in a pure Fellowship army (and can be the army leader in a Thorin's Company army), having 1 Attack could mean a wounded/killed army leader in a bad round.

So how do you get more out of him? Don't rely on him killing things, but use his magic to allow your other heroes to kill more stuff! Sorcerous Blast can do damage - and putting a group of grunts on the ground is good (that was a lot of "g" words . . . wow). When it comes to killing things, getting a single Wound on a group of 3 people isn't bad - especially if the other two are charged by Aragorn, Gimli, or Boromir (tee up my Heroic Combat, please, Gandalf?). The Knocked Prone/Knocked Flying from Sorcerous Blast is also an interesting way of dealing with enemy cavalry (who might cause an all-hero, all-infantry hero army a lot of trouble).

In the early stages of the game (after Blinding Light/Terrifying Aura are up, assuming you need those for the game), you want Gandalf to be casting Strengthen Will on himself to try to turn that free Will point into a static Will point in his store. When you get close, however, un-horsing key enemy power heroes is a neat trick and for that, you'll need Sorcerous Blast. One of the cool ways you can use Sorcerous Blast in a Fellowship/Thorin's Company list, is that if you are going second and an important character (like Boromir or Aragorn) has been charged already by a single model, you can Sorcerous Blast that model away from them, freeing up Boromir or Aragorn to stand up on their turn and continue charging (since a model that is no longer engaged when it begins its movement may move normally).

The thing is, because it's so costly to cast reliably (free will point + 2 Will from store), you might be better served by having Gandalf cast Immobilize on an enemy warrior that's fighting a Hobbit, giving Arwen or himself more Will via Strengthen Will to cast spells, or casting Strengthen Will on Boromir/Gimli when they're being pressed by enemy casters (or going the whole hog and casting Protection of the Valar on one of them if you need them to be immune).

All of these are useful examples of Gandalf's single casting attempt each turn - and these spells can be cast reliably on the free Will point from his Staff of Power and 1 additional Will from his store (though with Strengthen Will, you just want to use the free one). This is a "use case" in that your army can certainly benefit from Sorcerous Blast to manage the models that are charging you, but you probably want to use Gandalf's other spells to support this army better.

So how does Gandalf make up his points cost if he's not killing things? Well, consider this:

• If Gandalf kills an enemy model (with a spell or in melee), those points are because of Gandalf (this is obvious - and generally the hardest way to make up points with Gandalf, but it does happen).
• If Gandalf helps you win a tied fight because he brings an Elven-made weapon into a fight (or a well-timed Strike), any kills that come from that fight are (or probably are) because of Gandalf.
• If Gandalf keeps a friendly model from being Transfixed by augmenting that hero with Strengthen Will/Protection of the Valar, everything that hero kills this round is because of Gandalf (because without it, the augmented hero couldn't make Strikes).
• If Gandalf uses Sorcerous Blast to knock 1+ enemy models prone, any models that are killed because they were Prone are because of Gandalf (if you successfully wound on both dice, I guess you could give it to the model that did the wounding, since the trap didn't matter).
• If Gandalf Immobilizes a model that's about to go smashing through one of your more vulnerable pieces (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Arwen), that hero's life is probably saved because of Gandalf.
• If your army doesn't suffer as much archery as it would without Gandalf's Blinding Light, that's all due to Gandalf too.
• If your opponent has an enemy monster that never gets into combat because Gandalf Commands it backwards every turn until it fails a Courage test and flees the board, those points are due to Gandalf.

In short, there's lots of ways that Gandalf can make up his points cost - and most of them have nothing to do with dealing damage. As a long-time player of the Fellowship against a variety of foes, I can say that games without Gandalf are felt very keenly. That said, at small points levels (500 points or so), even I think he's hard to include (you probably want Aragorn, Legolas, Frodo, and Gimli/Boromir in your list). If you're curious about the spells we've talked about with Gandalf the Grey, rest assured we'll cover them all as we make our way through this series on magic!

Sorcerous Blast

Well, that's it for the discussion on Sorcerous Blast - if there are tricks that you've learned with it that I've forgotten, please include them below in the comments! If you found this helpful (or if you try any of these tricks out), let me know how they go. I'm hoping to get in some games with these heroes to showcase their capabilities - so be on the look-out for those. In our next post, we'll be looking at another spell that got a heavy nerf in the new edition: Immobilize (and its cousin Command, as well as their alter-egos Transfix and Compel). As one of the most common spells in the game, understanding what this staple does is important for any player. Want to know how to use it to the max? Tune in next time - until then, happy hobbying!